Report: Small schools provide as good an education as large schools

Small schools are as good as big schools when it comes to the quality of education pupils receive, a report shows.

The Department of Education inspectorate’s report found there was “no significant relationship between school size and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in schools”.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn welcomed the report, which was based on school inspections and surveys of parents and pupils. It shows the quality of English lessons is marginally better in larger schools, while there is little difference between the quality of maths lessons between smaller and larger schools.